Chicago police release video of unarmed black man’s killing

Washington, Aug 6 (IANS) The police in Chicago on Friday released a video showing the moments before and after the death of an unarmed African American teenager by its officers on July 28, the media reported on Saturday.

The footage was captured by cameras attached to the uniforms of the officers, but the moments of gunfire that caused the man’s death were not recorded either because of a glitch in the recorder or because it was turned off, Efe news reported.

Paul O’Neal, 18, had stolen a vehicle and tried to escape when the video started recording.

Two officers appeared and fired from pistols at the vehicle driven by O’Neal, who ended up colliding with another police car, the video showed.

Following the impact, O’Neal came out of the vehicle and ran towards the backyard of a house while several officers pursued him, one of them shooting him in the back.

Although this moment was not recorded directly, the noise of the gunfire was recorded by the video-recorder of another officer chasing him.

The video then showed an officer shouting “hands behind your back”, “you shot us”, who insulted O’Neal and pushed his head to the ground while he lay bleeding to death.

After the incident, the Chicago police suspended three of its officers for violating protocols.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson promised the officers will be held accountable if found to have acted inappropriately.

O’Neal’s family lawyer, Michael Oppenheimer, called it a cold-blooded murder and accused the police officers of taking law into their own hands.

O’Neal’s death moved the city, which had been affected by earlier cases of black people being killed by police, often using excessive force.

The most infamous case occurred in October 2014 when 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was killed by shots fired by officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged with murder.